Builder told pay Rs 1 lakh compensation to flat owner

Six years after a consumer,Surekha Darvatkar,booked a flat with S S Promoters and Builders of Budhwar Peth,the Pune District Court has ordered the builder to pay Rs 1 lakh in damages and hand over the flat to her at the same rate as in 2007 for not executing an agreement and failing to give possession.

Six years after a consumer,Surekha Darvatkar,booked a flat with S S Promoters and Builders of Budhwar Peth,the Pune District Court has ordered the builder to pay Rs 1 lakh in damages and hand over the flat to her at the same rate as in 2007 (Rs 2,050 per sq ft) for not executing an agreement and failing to give possession.

Darvatkar and her sister Mukta Thopte had bought a flat each in an apartment that was constructed by S S Promoters and Builders. The sisters paid Rs 50,000 each as booking amount for the flats on April 11,2007. The builder did not execute an agreement at the time and failed to do so later. In 2009,when the construction was halted,the sisters questioned him about the agreement but he said he would execute it after construction resumes. Since the builder failed to keep his promise,Darvatkar approached the consumer court in 2010.

In his defence,the builder submitted to the court that he had promised to execute the agreement only after they paid 20 per cent of the total cost of the flat. While the sisters had given him a cheque,they requested him not to deposit it as they were going through a financial crisis. However,the sisters produced their bank statement which reflected that Rs 1 lakh (Rs 50,000 each) was debited from their account. He alleged that the duo filed a false complaint with an aim to extort money from him.

The two-member bench of the consumer court comprising Anjali Deshmukh,president of the forum,and S K Kapse,member,stated in their order that,Not executing an agreement despite receiving the token amount is a fault in service.

The order further stated,The builder kept the amount with himself since it was paid in 2007 and neither gave possession of the flat nor executed an agreement which resulted in mental and physical harassment for the complainants.

After hearing both sides,the court ordered the builder to hand over the flat at the same rate as in 2007 (Rs 2,050 per sq ft) within six weeks along with registered agreement,Rs 1 lakh compensation and Rs 1,000 towards litigation charges.